Wallpaper Worth Celebrating: The Monkey Puzzle Tree wins prestigious design award for the third time

The Monkey Puzzle Tree have been awarded their third Design Guild Mark for the wallpaper they adapted for the stunning new bedrooms in the Hilton Double Tree hotel in Leeds centre.

Design Guild Mark recognises the highest standards of British Design and innovation. It is a non-profit award programme that was established in 2008 by The Furniture Makers’ Company to raise the profile of British industrial design and recognise excellence in this discipline.

Founded in 2017 by Charlotte Raffo, The Monkey Puzzle Tree collaborates with Yorkshire based artists to create locally manufactured wallpapers and fabrics for interiors with a twist and a con- science.

Charlotte collaborated with Harrogate artist Joel Weaver, an alum of Damien Hirst’s studio to create the wallpaper used in the Hilton hotel.

The abstract black and white print which resembles a murmuration of birds was created from the by- product of a formal piece Joel conceived for an exhibition.

Joel’s original piece featuring thousands of hand drawn lines across a large canvas took him weeks to complete. But the two pieces of blotting paper on which he had wiped the excess ink from his pen onto were chosen as the pieces to bring vitality to the hotel rooms.

The blotting paper panels were enlarged and adapted by Charlotte to create the innovative wallpaper for the hotel. With sustainability being an important consideration for the project, the wallpaper was designed to fit each space to reduce wastage.

INTERIOR DESIGN ELEMENTS

DESIGN GUILD MARK 341

Disorder in Stasis

In a world increasingly shaped by Al, human-created design brings warmth and authenticity to public spaces.Founded in 2017 by Charlotte Raffo, The Monkey Puzzle Tree collaborates with Yorkshire-based artists toproduce locally manufactured wallpapers and fabrics. Char- lotte worked with artist Joel Weaver on ‘Disorder inStasis,’ a striking black-and-white wall- paper derived from the blotting papers used during Joel’s detailed, hand-drawn artwork.

These organic marks were transformed into a continuous repeat design. The FSC-certified wallpaper was tailored to fit various Hilton Hotel bedroom layouts to reduce waste, with a wipeable finish chosen for durability in a high-use commercial environment.

“It’s a genuine surprise and real honour to receive a Design Guild Mark for our Disorder in Stasis wallpaper.

When you devote your whole soul to something – in our case, designing wallpapers and fabrics out- side of theconventional, and championing the North of England’s creativity and productivity, this kind of recognition can make the many challenges feel worthwhile.” – Charlotte Raffo of The Monkey Puzzle Tree

“I was keen to observe how my drawings would translate to wallpaper. For example, I knew that the drawings would be scaled up on a massive scale; how would this alter the way they were viewed? I was eager to find out how even the minutest mark making, however inconspicuous or light, would be then interpreted on a much larger scale. 

With this type of work there is inevitably an element of surprise. Sometimes there are stumbling blocks; yet in the end, to have made that journey, it can deliver work that is refreshing and rewarding.” – artist Joel Weaver

See the project in more detail:

The Monkey Puzzle Tree: Bringing Yorkshire creativity into the Hilton Hotel